My next stop after Hoi An was Da Lat. It was a bit of a mission to get there however... a taxi from Hoi An to Da Nang train station, then an overnight train to Nha Trang then a 4 hours bus to Da Lat. The sleeper train wasn’t that bad (better than the one I took in India), it took 10 hours and I did manage to sleep some of it but it was very noisy! In the morning we had some pretty amazing views as the train went along the coast.
I spent just 2 nights in Da Lat which was the right amount of time. It’s not by the sea so we spent some time exploring the beautiful lakes and countryside by scooter. There are many tours you can do but to me I think you get a lot more freedom when you rent a scooter and you can explore at your own pace. We also visited this slightly odd place which was like a house for Gnomes! Not quite as good as Hobbiton in New Zealand (not that I’ve been but from photos I’ve seen!)
We couldn’t go to Da Lat without visiting the famous ‘Crazy House’ - it was literally a maze!! You could very easily get lost there but it was fun to wonder around up and down all the stairs and in the different rooms... until it started to rain! Which Da Lat is very well known for... it rain on both days I was in Da Lat!
I also went to the Crazy House bar called the Maze in the centre of Da Lat, again you could get very lost there, especially after a few drinks!!
After Da Lat we got a 4ish hour bus and went to Mui Ne for another 2 nights. I personally wouldn’t really recommend visiting Mui Ne... there just wasn’t a huge amount to do there unfortunately. It was by the sea but sadly there was no beach... slightly strange. Anyway I spent nearly the full 2 days there relaxing by the pool!
I went to visit the famous red sand dunes, the fishing village (which was very smelly!) and the fairy stream. The fairy stream was a total tourist trap, basically just a muddy river you walk through - no idea why it was called the fairy stream!
Mui Ne did have an amazing indoor food market though which had loads of different stalls selling all varieties of food... I was a big fan, I went there 3 times - once for dinner and twice for breakfast!
The next stop was a 5 hour bus back to Nha Trang where I spent 3 nights. Nha Trang is a popular holiday resort for Russians so weirdly enough most of the signs were in Russian! It was also a little more expensive compared to anywhere else we’d been in Vietnam. My favourite restaurant I visited while I was there was called the ‘Rainforest’ - I think the pictures say it all. It was beautifully decorated and so green! I also had my first full English breakfast in god knows how long... yummy!
It was nice to spend some time relaxing on the beach (even though the sea wasn’t very clean) and we also visited the Tha Pa mud baths. I’d never been to a mud bath before but it was a good experience and I’d recommend for anyone visiting to Nha Trang to try it!
My next stop in Vietnam is the island of Phu Quoc, so my next post will be all about that.
No comments:
Post a Comment